1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method of and an apparatus for bending a metal tube of a small diameter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bending fabrication to a metal tube of a small diameter has mainly applied by manual operation using a manually operated jig. On the other hand, there have also been used a bending apparatus referred to as a power bender for automatically applying bending to a predetermined shape and a bending apparatus referred to as an NC bender for automatically applying various kinds of bending working.
When bending is applied manually to a metal tube of a small diameter, no sufficient working accuracy is attained and working efficiency is also poor. The power bender needs a relatively inexpensive installation cost and can overcome the problem in view of working accuracy and efficiency but it can apply bending only in a predetermined shape and it is difficult to cope with the change of the bending shape.
Further, although the power bender can apply complicate working to a metal tube of a small diameter in a short period of time, its structure is complicate, installation cost is expensive and maintenance is troublesome. In addition, setting for the change of working conditions is complicate and time consuming.